Manual reversing drive for photocopy machine

ABSTRACT

One of the feed rollers in a photocopy machine, which advances copy paper therethrough, is provided with either a noncircular extension or a recess at one end thereof engageable with a similarly shaped recess or extension on a tool for manually reversing the normal direction of rotation of all of the feed rollers, thereby enabling the release of a copy paper jam. A normally covered opening through a side of the machine housing permits access of the tool to engage the roller when a paper jam occurs.

United States Patent Samuels et a1.

[ MANUAL REVERSING DRIVE FOR PHOTOCOPY MACHINE Inventors: Abe Samuels, Chicago; Rudolph C.

Mueller, Schiller Park; Casimir C. Manec, Chicago, all of ill.

Speed-O-Prlnt Businm Machines Corporation, Chicago, 111.

Filed: Oct. 30, 1970 Appl. No.: 85,665

Assignee:

U.S. Cl ..355/133, 271/56 Int. Cl. ..G03b

Field of Search ..355/l33; 271/56, 57, 51; 68/254 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,091,169 5/1963 Tainietal ..355/l09 1451 Aug. 8, 1972 326,995 9/1895 Laux ..68/254 X Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner-Richard L. Moses Attorney-Johnston, Root, O'Keeffe, Keil, Thompson & Shurtleff [57] ABSTRACT One of the feed rollers in a photocopy machine, which advances copy paper therethrough, is provided with either a noncircular extension or a recess at one end thereof engageable with a similarly shaped recess or extension on a tool for manually reversing the normal direction of rotation of all of the feed rollers, thereby enabling the release of a copy paper jam. A normally covered opening through a side of the machine housing permits access of the tool to engage the roller when a paper jam occurs.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures all" "3 l gllllnlla PATENTED M" 8 I972 SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTORS. ABE SAMUELS @x%%s% w ZTT YS PATENTEDAuc 8 I972 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTORS: ABE SAMUELS mOE RUDOLPH C. MUELLER CASIMIR c. MARZEC BY j wfi wwwewaz ATT'YS I MANUAL REVERSHYG D FOR PHOTOCOPY MAC ilal BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A problem which is always present in photocopy machines is that of jamming of the original document or of the copy paper within the machine. Such jamming may occur for a number of different reasons, such as a sheet being fed into the machine wrong, or a sheet being skewed, or the leading edge of a sheet tending to wrap itself around one of the feed rollers as it passes through the machine. Such jamming is more apt to occur with a copy sheet than it is with the original, particularly where a fluid developer is used to develop the image on the exposed paper.

In machines to which the present invention is particularly applicable, an original document is fed in the front of the machine and the copy thereof is made on a copy sheet which is either manually fed into the machine with the original, or which is fed from a stack of copy sheets within the machine, or which is cut from a roll of copy paper. Jamming of the original presents less of a problem in the presently designed machine since the machine operator has access to the rollers through which the original passes by pivoting upwardly an assembly which separates the pairs of feed rollers as disclosed, for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,508,825, issued Apr. 28, 1970.

In machines where copy paper is fed through feed rollers, at the rear of the machine the problem of jamming becomes more serious. An operator cannot usually gain access to the rollers where a copy sheet jam has occurred even though the rear of the machine may be opened. Up to the present time it has been necessary for the developer tank and trough to be removed and practically disassemble the machine and remove the rollers in order to remove the paper.

As an alternative to this manner of releasing a paper jam, an operator might open the back of the machine and cut the sheet around the roller with a knife in order to produce an edge which he could grasp and pull rearwardly. One problem with this method would be that the rubber-like rollers could be cut.

Even with this method, however, it becomes necessary to exert a sufficient pull on the paper to reverse normal direction of rotation of the rollers. This normally requires a pull of 30 or 40 pounds, whereas the copy paper will normally not withstand a pull in excess of about pounds. The result is that the paper would tear and the machine still would have to be at least partially disassembled. This results in considerable down time of the machine, and often requires the presence of a serviceman to solve the problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention obviates the problems and difficulties mentioned above. Photocopy machines utilize a number of pairs of feed rollers to feed the copy paper through the machine where it is exposed to the image on the original, and then through the developer station and then out of the machine. It is helpful to be able to reverse the normal direction of rotation of the rollers when a jam occurs, but the rollers where the jam most likely would occur could not be reached for manual rotation either through the front or back of the machine without at least partially disassembling it.

Motors used to drive these feed rollers are normally not reversible because of the added expense involved. Prior to the present invention it was customary to have a single direction clutch on the rollers and shafts so that the rollers could not normally be reversed in any event.

The pairs of rollers comprise one driven roller and an idler roller, and all of the driver rollers are connected together to rotate together from a drive motor. The usual means of connecting these drive shafts together includes an endless sprocket chain engaging sprockets on the end of each of the drive roller shafts.

It has been determined that if these rollers could be turned a relatively small distance at a time in a direction reverse to that in which they normally rotate, a paper jam can usually be relieved in a very short time. The present invention involves a construction wherein a tool may be inserted through an opening in the housing to engage one of the shafts of a pair of rollers whereby all of the rollers may be manually rotated in the reverse direction. It has been found that this innovation decreases the number of service calls and the amount of down time of the machine because the operator can simply insert the tool and rotate the rollers in the reverse direction and relieve the paper jam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings forming a part of this application,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view with part of the housing wall broken away for the sake of clarity, and showing a wall of the chassis with parts mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the pairs of feed rollers for the copy paper and the tool engageable therewith for use in relieving a paper jam;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the roller shaft taken along the plane of line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the tool taken along the plane of 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the housing wall showing the opening therethrough uncovered to permit access to the feed roller by the tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As will be evident, the invention herein is applicable to a wide variety of copy machines having various shapes and arrangement of parts. The machine herein disclosed has a main interior chassis portion on which the elements of the machine are mounted. The chassis then is enclosed within a removable housing which is intended to remain in place during normal operation of the machine, but which may be removed to gain access to various ones of the operating parts.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and especially to FIG. 1, the outside wall of the housing is indicated by the numeral 1, and the front of the machine is identified by the numeral 2. The front is provided with a ledge 3 and a slot 4 which extends transversely of the machine for the reception of an original document.

There are provided a plurality of pairs of feed rollers within the machine which feed the original document past an illuminating station and is thereafter guided outwardly of the machine through the exit opening indicated at 5.

As illustrated herein, the machine is an electrostatic copier wherein the image on the original document is illuminated as it passes through the machine and then projected onto a copy sheet at an exposure station which the copy sheet passes at the same rate of speed as the moving original. Since the operation of such machine is well known to those skilled in the art, it is deemed unnecessary to disclose in detail the various illuminating station, exposure station and feed rollers. Also, as indicated earlier herein, the present invention is adapted to be used wherever a copy sheet may become jammed whether the copy sheet is manually fed into the machine or is fed from the top of a stack of sheets or is fed from a roll of copy paper and then cut. It is also applicable for use in connection with a book copier where the original document rests on a transparent surface and is exposed to a moving copy sheet, whether it be of the type where the lamp scans the document or of the type wherein the lamp is stationary and the document moves.

The machine, as illustrated herein, is provided with a pair of shafts 6 and 7, each provided with a roller between which the copy sheet is fed. The shaft 6 has the driven roller thereon and the shaft 7 is provided with the idler roller. A copy sheet is fed to the nip of these rollers for advancement through the machine.

A copy paper then proceeds to be fed between the roller 8 on shaft 9, and the roller 10 on shaft 11. The paper then is subjected to an electrostatic charge by means of the usual corona discharge device, generally indicated at 12.

Where the copy machine is of the type utilizing a liquid toner there is provided a trough which is curved and supports a quantity of liquid toner therein. The copy sheet is fed into the toner at one side of the trough and out of the toner at the opposite side where it is received between a pair of squeegee rollers.

In the illustrated machine, the trough in which the liquid toner is received has a contour substantially like that shown in dotted lines and identified by the numeral 13. Suitable guides within the machine guide the sheet of copy paper from the charging device downwardly through the toner at one side of the trough and upwardly out of the toner at the opposite side thereof where it passes between a roller 14 on shaft 15, and the roller 16 mounted on shaft 17. These are the squeegee the copy sheet upwardly toward the rear of the machine so that it will pass between feed roller 19 on shaft 20 and roller 21 on shaft 22. From there the copy sheet continues to be fed between roller 23 on shaft 24 and roller 25 on shaft 26 where it is directed out of the machine through the exit 27, and sheets may be accumulated on the shelf 28.

A drive motor 29 has a drive shaft 30 on which is mounted a sprocket 31, an endless sprocket chain 32 passes around sprocket 31 and is driven by the motor 29. As may be seen from viewing FIG. 1, the sprocket chain 32 passes around numerous sprocket wheels on various shafts on which feed rollers are mounted so that the copy paper may be advanced through the machine in its predetermined path. During operation of the machine the motor and sprocket chain are continuously running so that when an original document is fed into the machine suitable clutches will be engaged to begin advancing the copy sheet.

The sprocket 31, in the illustration, will rotate only in a clockwise direction so that the feed rollers will be driven in a direction to advance the copy paper through the machine. The chain also passes around a sprocket 33 on the stub shaft 34 mounted on a bracket 35 pivotally secured to the chassis wall 18 as at 36. A spring 37 is affixed at one end thereof to the outer free end of the bracket 35 as at 38, and the other end is fixed as at 39 to the chassis wall 18. This spring then acts to maintain a tension on the sprocket chain 32.

The chain then engages a sprocket wheel 40 on roller shaft 15 and rotates the shaft and the roller 14 thereon in a clockwise direction so that when the leading edge of the copy sheet reaches the nip of the rollers 14 and 16, the sheet will be advanced upwardly toward the rear of the machine to the feed rollers 19 and 21.

Among the other sprocket wheels, which the chain 32 engages, is a sprocket 41 on shaft 20 and sprocket 42 on shaft 24. The chain then continues around other sprockets, including sprocket 43 on shaft 9. The chain will move in the direction indicated by the various arrows in FIG. 1.

One of the shafts on which there is a driven feed roller is provided at its outer end with a noncircular extension adapted to be received by a similarly shaped noncircular recess of a tool for the purpose of rotating all of the rollers in the reverse direction when a jam of the copy sheet occurs.

It will be evident that any of the driven shafts will be appropriate for this purpose, but in the present illustration the shaft 15 has been shown as being provided at its outer end with a square extension 44. A tool, generally indicated by the numeral 45, is provided with a stem 46 and a handle 47 which may be manually grasped by the machine operator. The stem 46 is provided with a noncircular bore therethrough of the same shape as the extension 44, which, in this case, is shown as being square. The square bore in stem 46 is indicated by the numeral 48.

An opening 49 is provided in the outer wall 1 of the housing opposite the extension 44, and is normally covered by a closure member 50 pivoted to the wall at 51 for rotation so that the opening 49 may be uncovered when necessary to relieve a paper jam.

It will be evident that the invention contemplates broadly an engagement between a manually operated tool and one of the driven shafts of the feed rolls, and such engagement may either be that as shown herein where the shaft is provided with a noncircular extension to be received in a similarly shaped noncircular recess in a tool or the reverse thereof, wherein the noncircular recess is in the shaft and is adapted to receive a similarly shaped noncircular extension on the tool.

Although jamming of the copy paper may take place in connection with any of the feed rollers, it more often occurs at the location of the squeegee rollers 14 and 16 because at that point the paper is still wet from the developer solution and has a tendency to wind itself around one of the rollers. As indicated earlier herein, the rear of the machine is provided with a door 52 adapted to pivot about its lower edge to open position in order to gain access to the interior of the machine. Because of the presence of other operating parts within the machine it is difficult to reach the feed rollers even with the door open. Even if they can be reached it is virtually impossible to rotate the rollers in the reverse direction to free the paper jam and resort must, therefore, be had to the procedures outlined above. The relieving of the paper jam by use of the present invention is simplified considerably since it is merely necessary to move the closure member 50 to uncover the opening 49 and then engage the tool 45 with the shaft 44, whereupon it may be manually turned to rotate not only roller 14 and roller 16, but all of the feed rollers in a reverse direction.

This reverse movement of the rollers and the sprocket chain engaged with the sprockets on the roller shafts must take place a relatively small amount at a time. Rotating the shafts in reverse direction tends to release the tension on the sprocket chain, and if an attempt is made to reversely rotate the shafts other than by a slow jogging motion the chain may become completely disengaged from one or more of the sprockets. For this reason it is not only expensive, but impractical to provide a reversible motor which could be jogged thereby to achieve the same result. It may be noted in FIG. 1 that if the movement of the sprocket chain is reversed from its normal direction a pull will be exerted on the sprocket 33, tending to rotate the bracket 35 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby releasing the tension on the chain. That is why turning the shafts in the opposite direction must be accomplished a little at a time manually to maintain the chain and sprockets in engagement.

It will be evident that such reverse movement of the feed rollers will unroll the copy paper from a roll, around which it has been wound, and the paper may be manually grasped and pulled from the machine without exerting any pull on the paper itself. This likewise enables the release of jammed paper for any other reason.

The advantages of the arrangement described herein are many, and perhaps the most important is the enabling of the machine operator to easily and quickly release a jammed situation rather than having to dismantle the machine or call a Serviceman.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of parts from those disclosed herein without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the attendant advantages thereof, provided, however, that such changes fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a photocopy machine of the character wherein an original document is exposed to copy paper as the paper is moved past an exposure station, and then conveyed through a developer station and out of the machine, the combination of,

a. a housing,

b. a plurality of pairs of feed rollers mounted within said housing and adapted to convey copy paper from a source of copy paper along a predetermined path through the machine, one roller of each of said pairs of rollers being a drive roller member,

c. motor driven drive means for driving said rollers,

d. means drivingly connecting said drive means with all of said drive rollers, whereby operation of said drive means will rotate all of said pairs of rollers to advance copy paper along said path,

e. a manually operable tool member,

f. and interengaging means on one of said drive roller members and said tool member operable to manually reverse the direction of rotation of said pairs of rollers when said drive means is not operating, thereby to aid in the removal of jammed copy paper.

2. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein said interengaging means on said drive roller member and said tool member comprise a noncircular extension on one of said members and a similarly shaped noncircular recess in the other of said members adapted to receive said extension.

3. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, wherein said noncircular extension is on said drive roller member and said similarly shaped noncircular recess is in said tool member.

4. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, wherein said members are separable, and including an opening in said housing opposite said drive roller member through which said tool member may be inserted to engage said drive roller member.

5. The combination of elements defined in claim 4, combined with movable closure means for closing said opening, but movable for permitting insertion of said tool member therethrough.

6. In a photocopy machine of the character wherein an original document is exposed to copy paper as the paper is moved past an exposure station, and then conveyed through a developer station and out of the machine, the combination of,

a. a housing,

b. a plurality of pairs of feed rollers mounted within said housing and adapted to convey copy paper from a source of copy paper along a predetermined path through the machine, one of said pairs of rollers being squeegee rollers, and one roller of each of said pairs of rollers being a drive roller member,

. motor driven drive means for driving said rollers,

means drivingly connecting said drive means with all of said drive rollers, whereby operation of said drive means will rotate all of said pairs of rollers to advance copy paper along said path,

. a manually operable tool member,

f. and interengaging means on the drive roller member of said pair of squeegee rollers and said tool member operable to manually reverse the direction of rotation of said pairs of rollers when said drive means is not operating, thereby to aid in the removal of jammed copy paper.

7. The combination of elements defined in claim 6, wherein said interengaging means on said drive roller member of said pair of squeegee rollers and said tool member comprise a noncircular extension on one of said members and a similarly shaped noncircular recess in the other of said members adapted to receive said extension. 

1. In a photocopy machine of the character wherein an original document is exposed to copy paper as the paper is moved past an exposure station, and then conveyed through a developer station and out of the machine, the combination of, a. a housing, b. a plurality of pairs of feed rollers mounted within said housing and adapted to convey copy paper from a source of copy paper along a predetermined path through the machine, one roller of each of said pairs of rollers being a drive roller member, c. motor driven drive means for driving said rollers, d. means drivingly connecting said drive means with all of said drive rollers, whereby operation of said drive means will rotate all of said pairs of rollers to advance copy paper along said path, e. a manually operable tool member, f. and interengaging means on one of said drive roller members and said tool member operable to manually reverse the direction of rotation of said pairs of rollers when said drive means is not operating, thereby to aid in the removal of jammed copy paper.
 2. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein said interengaging means on said drive roller member and said tool member comprise a noncircular extension on one of said members and a similarly shaped noncircular recess in the other of said members adapted to receive said extension.
 3. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, wherein said noncircular extension is on said drive roller member and said similarly shaped noncircular recess is in said tool member.
 4. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, wherein said members are separable, and including an opening in said housing opposite said drive roller member through which said tool member may be inserted to engage said drive roller member.
 5. The combination of elements defined in claim 4, combined with movable closure means for closing said opening, but movable for permitting insertion of said tool member therethrough.
 6. In a photocopy machine of the character wherein an original document is exposed to copy paper as the paper is moved past an exposure station, and then conveyed through a developer station and out of the machine, the combination of, a. a housing, b. a plurality of pairs of feed rollers mounted within said housing and adapted to convey copy paper from a source of copy paper along a predetermined path through the machine, one of said pairs of rollers being squeegee rollers, and one roller of each of said pairs of rollers being a drive roller member, c. motor driven drive means for driving said rollers, d. means drivingly connecting said drive means with all of said drive rollers, whereby operation of said drive means will rotate all of said pairs of rollers to advance copy paper aLong said path, e. a manually operable tool member, f. and interengaging means on the drive roller member of said pair of squeegee rollers and said tool member operable to manually reverse the direction of rotation of said pairs of rollers when said drive means is not operating, thereby to aid in the removal of jammed copy paper.
 7. The combination of elements defined in claim 6, wherein said interengaging means on said drive roller member of said pair of squeegee rollers and said tool member comprise a noncircular extension on one of said members and a similarly shaped noncircular recess in the other of said members adapted to receive said extension. 